Lana Del Rey continues to evade definition with a new sprawling and cinematic video for her new single, "Ride," the lead single from the upcoming re-release of her debut album, "Born To Die: The Paradise Edition," due out on November 13. The epic 10-minute vision of what she says "Country America used to be," will either silence her critics forever, or just add flames to the fire. But, anyone with an open mind can't deny it's one of the most important works in popular music to come around in a long time.
"Ride" is a long, dreamy ballad that swells into full view during the chorus, composed in the indie pop, soul pop, and baroque pop genres. In the song, Del Rey sings over a string-drenched, piano-driven melody. The 26-year-old singer sings what she knows best: loneliness, some daddy issues and day-drinking. All of this is probably a metaphor for something, but honestly, we're still trying to figure out what those "Born To Die" tigers mean. "Ride" is more accomplished than Del Rey's previous endeavors, with the strengths of the track outshining the flaws.
The Antony Mandler-directed video told from the perspective of a character who stumbled across a disconcerting alternate meaning of true freedom. It opens with the now familiar image of Del Rey arching over a suspended tire swing against a desert cliffside, looking bored, or maybe meditative, or maybe sad, or maybe all of the above, as depicted on the single cover, and it's unclear how the tire swing is suspended, with no visible trees nearby. Del Rey amped up on the smokey vocals and narrates: "I was in the winter of my life and the men I met along the road were my only summer." Del Rey expresses how she found sanctuary through traveling, while on tour, because the singer had not had a proper home for a long time.
Following the confession, we see a shifting series of striking images of the singer, joyful on the back of a motorcycle, wandering around sketchy motel parking lots and fulfilling her dreams of a singer at a nightclub as her gang rolls down the highway; alone on the sidewalk outside a city convenience store; composed in a pretty white dress before a performance; back in the desert, wearing a novelty t-shirt, and wrapping herself in an American flag. The video certainly succeeds in crafting a wistful, ultimately lonely backdrop for song's melodrama. Indeed, it can also be seen as simply a continuation of the '60s nostalgia trip that Del Rey began with "National Anthem."
"Ride" is a long, dreamy ballad that swells into full view during the chorus, composed in the indie pop, soul pop, and baroque pop genres. In the song, Del Rey sings over a string-drenched, piano-driven melody. The 26-year-old singer sings what she knows best: loneliness, some daddy issues and day-drinking. All of this is probably a metaphor for something, but honestly, we're still trying to figure out what those "Born To Die" tigers mean. "Ride" is more accomplished than Del Rey's previous endeavors, with the strengths of the track outshining the flaws.
The Antony Mandler-directed video told from the perspective of a character who stumbled across a disconcerting alternate meaning of true freedom. It opens with the now familiar image of Del Rey arching over a suspended tire swing against a desert cliffside, looking bored, or maybe meditative, or maybe sad, or maybe all of the above, as depicted on the single cover, and it's unclear how the tire swing is suspended, with no visible trees nearby. Del Rey amped up on the smokey vocals and narrates: "I was in the winter of my life and the men I met along the road were my only summer." Del Rey expresses how she found sanctuary through traveling, while on tour, because the singer had not had a proper home for a long time.
Following the confession, we see a shifting series of striking images of the singer, joyful on the back of a motorcycle, wandering around sketchy motel parking lots and fulfilling her dreams of a singer at a nightclub as her gang rolls down the highway; alone on the sidewalk outside a city convenience store; composed in a pretty white dress before a performance; back in the desert, wearing a novelty t-shirt, and wrapping herself in an American flag. The video certainly succeeds in crafting a wistful, ultimately lonely backdrop for song's melodrama. Indeed, it can also be seen as simply a continuation of the '60s nostalgia trip that Del Rey began with "National Anthem."
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